Édith Piaf

Édith Giovanna Gassion (19 December 1915 – 10 October 1963), known as Édith Piaf (French pronunciation: [edit pjaf]), was a French entertainer best known for performing songs in the cabaret and modern chanson genres. She is widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer and one of the most celebrated performers of the 20th century.

Piaf's music was often autobiographical, and she specialized in chanson réaliste and torch ballads about love, loss and sorrow. Her most widely known songs include "La Vie en rose" (1946), "Non, je ne regrette rien" (1960), "Hymne à l'amour" (1949), "Milord" (1959), "La Foule" (1957), "L'Accordéoniste" (1940), and "Padam, padam..." (1951).

Having begun her career touring with her father at age fourteen, her fame increased during the German occupation of France and in 1945, Piaf's signature song, "La Vie en rose" ('life in pink') was published. She became France's most popular entertainer in the late 1940s, also touring Europe, South America and the United States, where her popularity led to eight appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Piaf continued to perform, including several series of concerts at the Paris Olympia music hall, until a few months before her death in 1963 at age 47. Her last song, "L'Homme de Berlin", was recorded with her husband in April 1963. Since her death, several documentaries and films have been produced about Piaf's life as a touchstone of French culture.